Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (Commencement No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order.)

This Order brings into operation the provisions of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/2902 (N.I. 15)) (“the 2003 Order”) specified in Schedules 1 and 2. The provisions specified in Part I of Schedule 1 come into operation on 30th January 2005. The provision specified in Part II of Schedule 1 comes into operation on 1st February 2005 and those specified in Part III of Schedule 1 come into operation on 3rd April 2005. The repeals specified in Part I of Schedule 2 come into operation on 30th January 2005 and those specified in Part II of Schedule 2 come into operation on 3rd April 2005.

The provisions in Articles 3 to 8 of the 2003 Order amend the Industrial Tribunals (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1921 (N.I. 18)) in relation to the powers to make industrial tribunal procedure regulations. Those amendments relate to costs and expenses, payments in respect of preparation time, conciliation, prescription of forms, determinations without a hearing, practice directions and pre-hearing reviews.

The provisions in Articles 9 to 12 and 14 of the 2003 Order amend the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/3162 (N.I. 21)) in relation to the powers to make Fair Employment Tribunal procedure regulations. Those amendments relate to costs, payments in respect of preparation time, conciliation, prescription of forms, determinations without a hearing and practice directions.

The provisions in Articles 15, 17 and 19 of and Schedules 1 to 3 to the 2003 Order relate to the statutory dispute resolution procedures introduced by the Order.

The provisions in Articles 18 and 20 of the 2003 Order correspond to the provisions within Articles 17 and 19 of that Order in relation to the Fair Employment Tribunal.

Article 23 amends Part XI of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1919 (N.I. 16)) (“the 1996 Order”) so that an employee is treated as unfairly dismissed if the dismissal and disciplinary statutory procedure applies but is not completed for a reason attributable to the employer.

Articles 24 and 25 of the 2003 Order amend Article 35 of the 1996 Order which deals with notes about disciplinary rules and procedures.

Article 26 inserts new Articles 39A and 39B into the 1996 Order. These new Articles deal with the use of alternative documents to give the employee a statement of his employment particulars.

Article 27 of and Schedule 4 to the 2003 Order deal with an employee’s claim that his employer has failed to give him a statement of particulars of employment. Article 28 of the 2003 Order corresponds to this provision in relation to the Fair Employment Tribunal.

Article 29 of the 2003 Order makes provision for the adjustment of awards of compensation under Articles 17 and 27 of that Order by inserting a new Article 158A into the 1996 Order.

Article 33 of the 2003 Order amends Article 69 of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (S.I. 1992/807 (N.I. 5)) to allow the Certification Officer to appoint assistant certification officers and delegate functions to these officers.